Kids food allergies need extra back-to-school planning

If you think your kid is fussy about what they eat, you should try packing a lunch when your child has food allergies.

Or in the case of parent Karen Earle's second-grader, multiple food allergies.

"Since she as old enough to understand, we've talked about foods she can have and she cannot have," Earle said.

Earle also make sure to meet with all the teachers and adminstrators before the school year starts and makes sure they have an action plan.

"And her teachers are great about it," Earle said. "It's never been an issue."

Earle says parents of children with food allergies have to keep the mental and emotional side of the issue in mind, as well as the physical symptoms.

For example, Earle makes sure that she always packs something special in her daughter's lunch, so if kids are celebrating something at the school like a birthday with something her daughter can't eat, her daughter doesn't feel left out.